Severely handicapped persons often have considerable difficulty communicating simple ideas associated with their daily lives. This is particularly true in the instance of persons who are both physically and mentally handicapped. These persons are frequently unable to use speech in an intelligible manner.
While a number of electronic communications devices have been developed for persons who have greater mental capacity, these devices are generally unsuitable for persons who cannot cope with the abstract concepts involved in their use. These concepts would incorporate, for example, the idea of scanning to bring the device to rest in a mode in which it displays the desired signal. Other such devices require that various input signals be combined to produce a single output.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a greatly simplified communications device that nevertheless provides a handicapped person with the ability to communicate simple ideas effectively.
A further objective is provide such a device that is extremely durable, making it suitable for use by persons who will not be careful to avoid damaging it. Still another objective is to provide such a device that does not require electrical power so that it will be safe and will not require replacement of batteries.